attempted to unbuckle the other, but he came after her. “You know big papi is
right on the other side of the door, right?” Troy grabbed her arm. She spun out of
his grasp and skipped back. “Seriously, Troy, I can"t play with you right now.”
A look of frustration twisted his face. “Why you been dodging me lately,
ma?”
Nibbling on her tongue ring, she looked away from him. How do you tell a
man his groove wasn"t making your ass bounce anymore? There was no nice way
to put it, so she didn"t say anything. It wasn"t fair to take it out on him anyway,
because in all honesty it had nothing to do with him. It was her.
Her flood gates had been on lock down for months now, every since her
supposedly fabulous life turned upside down, but he wouldn"t know that because
she"d been faking the funk. At first, she didn"t feel so bad about it because she
31
wasn"t the first woman in history to fake an orgasm, but damn, if she could just
have one holy O, she"d be a happy camper.
Not saying she didn"t get horny. Hell, the only time she didn"t think about
sex was when her mind was stuck in the murderous twilight zone. Other than
that, her pussy was a flashing beacon waiting for the big wave.
He gently took her hand and drew her against him. “I feel neglected.” He
latched onto her mouth, slipped his eager tongue between her lips and sparred
with hers.
It was confusing the way heat suddenly engulfed her, as if someone flipped
on a switch inside her body. An unfamiliar hunger hid behind the craving for sexual
release. Her body temperature shot up. Her sensitive nerve endings burned with
desire, and damn near drew out a groan. She trembled against him as the unknown
sensation steadily rose.
She dragged the kiss from his mouth to his cheek. Helpless whimpers
spewed out of her the closer she got to his throat, but before she could plant her
lips on the taunting spot Sota banged on the door.
“Baby girl, you good in there?”
She pushed back from Troy and hobbled a little. Her head spun and her
hands shook. What the hell…?
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“Uh, yeah, I"m good, yeah, I think…” Through a hooded gaze, she stared at
Troy.
His neck. She couldn"t stop staring at his damn neck.
“Are you done changing?”
“No,” she snapped at the door. She blinked rapidly and tried to calm her
heavy breathing. “Uh, hold on.”
She tried get to the door. Troy grabbed her and pinned her to the wall.
“Troy, we can"t—you should probably go. I have to get ready.”
“I locked the door,” he mumbled, nuzzling the crook her neck. “Please baby
just give me a lil" bit.” He pressed his erection against her. “I need to feel you.”
Now, how could she say no with his rock, hard cock pressed up against her?
“Damn, boy. Real quick, okay?”
“Yeah baby.”
Troy pulled her skirt up over her hips and slid her panties down her legs. He
bunged them up to his nose and deeply inhaled, then tossed them on the vanity. As
he reached in his pocket to retrieve a condom, she unbuttoned his jeans.
“Rayne, you"ve got five minutes,” Sota huffed.
“Ten!” she shouted, freeing Troy"s hardened member.
“What do you mean by—whatever,” Sota grunted.
33
Breathing hard with anticipation, Troy hurriedly sheathed his shaft. She
lifted her leg, wrapped it around his waist and sharply took in a gust of air when
he slid all nine inches of his length deep inside of her core.
Troy lifted her other leg over his waist, adjusted his stance, slid out of her
then pushed in again. She locked her ankles, hugged his neck, and clenched her
teeth to fight the need to moan loudly.
“Damn Rayne, I love this tight pussy,” he groaned.
His hips moved in an unhurried rhythm. She nipped on his ear lobe. His
slow strokes cruised into piston-like thrusts. Panting and moaning with one hand
on her ass and the other braced against the wall, he plowed in and out of her at
feverish pace. The sweet sounds of his pleasure brought forth an uncanny desire
to… bite him?
Slightly jarred and aroused at the same time, she licked behind his ear and
his veins blocked out his moans and mingled with the frantic thump of his
heartbeat. The rhythm was pure ecstasy. Her gums started to sting.
Bite him.
Something took hold of her. She reeled with passion and before she could
stop herself, her mouth opened and she bit down on his jugular, hard. He went
rigid. His breathing hitched then he bellowed out in pain, “Goddamn Rayne!”
34
Drawing back, she muffled his outcry with her hand. “Oh snap, I"m sorry,
Troy, sorry.”
Hesitantly, she looked into his eyes, thinking maybe she"d gone too far with
this new found craving, but there wasn"t fury or confusion in his eyes, only
unrestrained lust.
His lids lowered half-mast, and his hips bucked into overdrive. Her body
scooted up and down the wall with each forceful plunge. Clutching to the beat of
his heart, her core accepted the violent pleasure willingly.
She tightened her arms around his neck, undulated with him, and smoothly
took over the pace. He quaked in her embrace and stepped back, still embedded
deep inside of her.
The head of his cock pulsated. She heaved against him harder, drawing out
escalating moans, then subconsciously, bit him again. Bawling, he exploded into
the latex barrier then dropped to his knees.
His weakened arms released her and then she tumbled out of his embrace
onto the floor. She swiftly got to her feet and scrambled away from him. She
couldn"t breathe for a second and had to fight to keep the distance between them.
“Damn baby,” he puffed, one hand planted on the floor and the other
cupping his drained cock. “You know how to bring a brotha to his knees.”
35
She covered her throbbing mouth and tried to avert her stare, but damn, she
couldn"t. Biting him had been the closest thing she had to an orgasm in months.
She had to do it again.
On his neck, a deep, purplish bruise came forth. Mesmerized by the passion
mark, she slanted her head and moved toward him. The way the blood gathered
right beneath his skin, did something unnatural to her. The spot taunted her, lured
her in for another taste. She couldn"t name it, didn"t want to, just wanted that spot
in her mouth.
“Ray Ray, open the door. I need to fix your hair.”
Brianna"s high-pitched voice made her stop and rattle her head. She blinked
and found the strength to look away.
“Raaay,” Brianna whined. “C"mon, lemme in.”
She took in a deep shaky breath, shook her head once more then hobbled to
the door. Still unnerved, she pulled her skirt down over her behind and brushed
her hair back from her face to look halfway decent.
Once she unlocked and opened the door, Brianna sashayed into the room,
her hair styling bag in hand. The vanity light caught her chestnut tone and long
burgundy tresses, highlighting her
youthful beauty.
“Guurl, it"s straight up fandemonium out there, for real. These people are
about to lose their minds over you. I can"t even begin to tell you what I had to go
36
through to…” Brow furrowed, she cocked her head and stared at Troy. “Boo, what
the hell you doing on the floor?”
Luckily, Troy had already put his pipe away, but then again, that didn"t
matter. Her quick-witted friend would pick up on the scenario real quick.
Troy pushed up from the floor and took a deep breath. “What up, Bri.”
Brianna darted her eyes between the two of them, then erupted in laughter.
“Ooo, ya"ll been hunchin",” she quipped.
“Shush girl, with yo" loud behind,” Rayne whispered harshly, her finger over
her mouth.
“It"s not like Sota don"t know what ya"ll doing in here. He"s right outside the
door. Freaks.” Snickering, she pulled her supplies out of the bag and set them on
the vanity. “Don"t mind me. Just work it out „til you ain"t got nothing left…”
Ignoring her best friend"s jesting remarks, she watched Troy lumber toward
her, his eyes torpid as if under a spell. He drew her into his arms and pressed his
forehead to her temple. “I need to talk to you „bout something,” he whispered.
“About us, ya know, making this real.”
Rayne swallowed hard and bristled in his embrace. “You should go, okay?
We, we"ll talk later.”
37
“I"m serious girl. I feel for you. I wanna do this.” His roaming hands moved
down her torso over her curvy hips and his head tilted back, exposing his marked
throat. His pulsating vein called out to her.
It"s like he wanted her to bite him again.
“After the party,” she whispered as she gently pushed out of his embrace.
She tore her eyes from his throat. “Go „head now before Sota come in and bust you
up for being in here too long.”
He stared at her a moment then quietly left the room. She eyed the closed
door and sighed in relief when she couldn"t hear his heartbeat anymore.
“I am buggin" out here, for real,” she murmured.
“Me too. C"mon over here so I can do something with all that hair, Freak.
People don"t need to know you been bumpin" uglies,” Brianna bantered, tapping
the back of the chair with her comb. “And take off that other—what the hell? He
fucked one of your shoes off?”
Finally able to conjure laughter at her friend"s silliness, Rayne bent down
and removed her other shoe. “Shaddup, Crazy. Give me a sec. Lemme change real
quick.”
Rayne stripped out of her costume then slipped on a pair of hip hugging,
flare-legged blue jeans, a frilly peach toned half top, a silver trimmed belt and a
38
pair of white sneakers. Smoothing her hands over her jeans, she hurried over to the
vanity, flopped in the chair, and flipped her hair back.
“Okay, so, what"s going on with Troy?” Brianna asked, digging her comb into
Rayne"s hair. “Is it just me or is that boy getting finer every time I see him? Whoa,
wait a minute, speaking of fine—Sota—good Gawd, Almighty. Can you say,
yummy?”
Rayne snickered.
“Dang girl, whew. I love my black men, but hmm, that man out there gotta
sista wanting to do all kinds of nasty things. I swear, I"ma burning minute away
from telling him he can do the rain dance on me any day.”
Brianna stepped away from the chair, grinning like a mischievous child then
started hopping around in a circle—her version of a rain dance.
“Hot damn! Big boy can make it rain with his sexy Indian ass.”
Laughing uncontrollably, Rayne slapped the arm of the chair. “Girl, you a
damn fool!”
“And you know this! A"ight, now back to the other fine one, Troy.”
She pushed out a breath in amusement and shook her head. “As far as Troy
goes, we"re just doing the do. That"s it. Nothing serious,” she muttered quickly to
dismiss the subject.
39
“I don"t know „bout that. I heard what he said. Sounds like brah is trying to
make you his woman.”
The smirk fell from her lips. Just thinking about him brought about the urge
to sink her teeth into his flesh. She stiffened. What the hell was wrong with her?
“Aaand she"s silent,” Brianna announced, not bothering to meet her stare.
“Moving on to the next subject. Remember the light skinned chick who was in our
statistics class with us back in high school? Ya" know, the one who hated your
guts? The same chick who made it her business to sleep with any man you were
interested in?”
“How could I forget her?” she grumbled with the roll of her eyes.
Brianna held her hair up and locked eyes with her. “Missing, since last
month.”
Rayne"s mouth fell open. “Noo.”
Her heart lurched. Someone she once knew was now on the list of missing
women, and according to her visions, probably dead. Tears quickly surfaced. She
pinched the bridge of her nose and blinked feverishly to hold back the water shed.
“Yep. It"s been happening everywhere. Here, Georgia, New Orleans,
Washington— everywhere. Girl, its real messed up. These chicks are our age, Ray.
And get this, they say „bout three to four girls go missing every month. In every
city! Tragic!” She brushed Rayne"s thick mane up to the crown of her head, drew it
40
tightly together then wrapped an elastic band around it to make it one long
flowing ponytail. “You know what this means right? Nationwide curfew. I see it
coming.” She shook her head, smoothing her hands from Rayne"s hairline to the
ponytail. “This mess is way outta control. I think it"s like a huge cult or something.
It has to be.”
“Or maybe they"re being murdered…by ghosts,” she uttered without
thought.
Brianna"s hands paused in her head. “Now what would make you say some
twisted shit like that, Ray?”
Rayne grimaced at the appalled expression on Brianna"s face.
“Na-uh, we"re not even gonna think like that, okay. They"re missing, not
murdered, just missing.”
“But, what if they were…?”
She swallowed hard and met Brianna"s puzzled gaze through the mirror. It
was ripping her heart apart to hold this horrific secret, especially after hearing
about one of her old classmates. She had to confide in somebody. Why not her best
friend?
“Okay, don"t freak out when I tell you this, and don"t say anything, just
listen. I can trust you, right, not to repeat this to anybody…?”
“I"m pissed that you even think you have to ask me that.”
41
“Seriously though, this is important and I really need you to believe what I"m
about to tell you.”
“Spit it out, Ray,” Brianna muttered in annoyance.
Rayne took a deep breath and ran her hands nervously over her thighs.
“Okay. Those girls, who are missing…I"ve been having nightmares about—”
“Knock, knock.”
They both snapped in the direction of the familiar voice to see Carrie
standing in the doorway.
“Hey!” Rayne shot up from the chair and ran over to give her a big hug. “You
&n
bsp; made it.”
“Yeah, I made it,” Carrie mumbled with a tight-lipped smile.
“I"m so glad to see you. It"s been like, forever. You look great, ma. Did you
like the show?” Rayne asked, beaming at her.
“It was cool.” Carrie cut her eyes at Brianna, who leaned against the vanity,
arms folded and lips pursed.
“You know damn well it was better than cool, hater,” Brianna hissed.
“Bri,” Rayne warned, slicing her best friend a side glance.
“Whateva.” Carrie rolled her eyes. “I just came by to tell you I"m going
home.”
42
“What? Naw girl, hang out with us for a lil" bit. I have a room set up for you
and everything. Gotta lil" bubbly, a lil" Patrone…” Rayne coaxed with a playful
sway of her hips. “C"mon doll, don"t leave when the party ain"t even gotten started
yet.”
Brianna sucked her teeth, grumbled beneath her breath then turned her
back to them.
Yeah, her words were desperate, but she couldn"t help it. She needed Carrie
close, even though she obviously still held a grudge, a grudge which had hung over
their almost non-existent friendship for the last five years.
Besides the need to rekindle their twelve year sisterhood, there was a feeling
in her heart that haunted her. A feeling that made her pick up the phone in the
middle of the night and beg Carrie to come down to Miami to be with her. A feeling
that something horrible was about to go down.
“Naw, I got things to do at home, so I"m out.”
“You"re lying,” Brianna sneered from across the room. “You know you ain"t
got shit to do. Ray, please let this hatin" bitch go home before I tell her how I really
feel.”
The door suddenly flung open and Sota rushed in. He grabbed Rayne"s
overnight bag. “C"mon Rayne, we have to head out,” he exhorted.
43
“What. Why? What"s going on?” Puzzled, Rayne watched him dump all her
contents in the bag.
“Brianna, get your stuff. C"mon girl,” he ordered.
Brianna glanced at Rayne in bewilderment, quickly gathered her things and
dashed out the door.
Eyes widened with an odd urgency, Sota took hold of Rayne"s upper arm